The Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC) has petitioned the FCC asking that the
commission immediately reallocate most of the 70 centimeter amateur radio band over
to private mobile operations, with private land mobile use designated as the primary user.

Technically, the document is nothing more than a formal rule making request to the FCC
that has been designated as RM-9267. The LMCC is asking the FCC to immediately reallocate
420 to 430 MHz and 440 to 450 MHz over to the Private Mobile Radio Service on a
primary basis. The Land Mobile Communications Council is also asking for new allocations
at 1390 to 1400 MHz, 1427 to 1432 and 1670 to 1675 MHz. The LMCC has also asked
the FCC for an 85 MHz wide band from 960 to 1215 MHz.

The ARRL is organizing opposition to this new threat to our frequencies, noting the
70cm band is the second most popular of the hobby's VHF/UHF allocations. Substantial FM
repeater and other operation in the 440 to 450 MHz segment and a variety of
transmission modes in the 420 to 430 MHz segment are all very popular, according to
the ARRL.

The LMCC request, based on "additional spectrum needs of the PMRS community,"
acknowledges amateur radio's use of 420 to 430 and 440 to 450 MHz, and suggests that
ham radio applications can remain secondary to PMRS in those segments, but offers no
explanation of how sharing could be accomplished. The LMCC says it believes the 430 to
440 MHz subband "is more important to the amateurs for use in emerging
technologies such as links with spacecraft and amateur television applications."

The petition also suggests that equipment availability and technology resulting from an
expanded PMRS presence on 70cm would benefit hams "pursuing such applications as
compressed video television in the 430-440 MHz band." The LMCC concedes,
however, that its "most urgent need" for PMRS is voice and low-speed data
applications, not advanced technologies which might come later on.

Comments are due on the LMCC's Petition for Rulemaking, RM-9267, by June 1, 1998.
Those responding must be certain to reference RM-9267 at the top of your letter. Comments
should be sent to the Secretary, FCC, Washington DC, 20554.

AMSAT-UK tells ANS the Queen's Award for Technological Achievement has been won by
Surrey Satellite Technology, in recognition of their national standing as an organization
of excellence in the research, development and application of small satellites. The Center
previously won The Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 1996.

The Surrey Space Center, with 130 staff members and postgraduate research students,
houses state-of-the-art satellite research and construction facilities. The facility's
Mission Operations area contains a fully automated satellite tracking and data collection
system, currently responsible for nine micro-satellites in low Earth orbit.

It's that time of year again -- time for the Dayton Hamvention -- and AMSAT-NA will
again be represented in full force at the three day event, May 15-17, 1998, at the
Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

AMSAT-NA will be in the same booth location as previous years, spaces 445-448. However,
the layout of the Hamvention has changed slightly, so the AMSAT booth location may be a
few feet from where it has been in previous years.

Once again, all AMSAT booth activity will be under the expert leadership of Barry
Baines, WD4ASW, AMSAT-NA's VP for Field Operations, along with his team of very dedicated
volunteers.

A number of new and updated items will be available at the '98 AMSAT booth including
new versions of Gould Smith's RS Satellite Operators Guide and Keith Baker's How
to Use the Amateur Radio Satellites. In addition, Steve Bible, N7HPR, has added WiSP
installation and setup instructions to the Digital Satellite Guide, which will
also be offered at the booth. The Amateur Satellite
Resource Guide has been updated (thanks to Mike, N1JEZ), and will be available at
the Beginner's Forum (08:15 Friday). The latest in AMSAT fashions, featuring T-shirts
and caps sporting the AMSAT logo, will also be available at the booth throughout the
weekend.

As a new offering this year, AMSAT will be marketing the popular dual band 144/435 Arrow Antenna for the first time at
the booth. This is the antenna that many amateurs are using to work through AO-27 using
only their dual band handhelds. Both the basic antenna and the 10-watt internal duplexer
will be available, but supplies of each will be limited. AMSAT will be handling the Arrow
antenna at the Hamvention only, it will not be available from AMSAT-NA following the 1998
Hamvention.

Other new items at this year's booth include copies of K2UBC's The Radio Amateur's
Satellite Handbook (released in February, 1998) and copies of Rick Fleeter's Micro
Space Craft book which discusses all facets of micro-satellite design and operation.

The AMSAT booth itself will feature a number of interesting displays, including a
computer demo 'replay' of the APRS/MIR experiment by Bob Bruninga, WB4APR. In addition,
Terry Douds, WB8CKI, will be showing a continuous loop video highlighting recent
activities at the Phase 3D Integration Lab in Florida.

Those wishing to participate in AMSAT-NA's recently announced Fly Your QSL in Space
campaign will have an opportunity to do so by dropping off their QSL's (and donations to
Phase 3-D) at this year's AMSAT Hamvention booth. Be sure to bring a copy of your QSL
along with you to Dayton for this purpose. More information about this campaign can be
obtained on the AMSAT-NA web page at http://www.amsat.org.

Due to internal Hamvention scheduling pressures, AMSAT's forum times and venues have
been significantly changed this year. The first AMSAT forum will run from 08:15 to 10:15
on Friday morning in Forum Room 3. This presentation will include a beginner's forum,
SAREX/ISS update and a Phase 3-D team panel discussion. Another AMSAT forum will be
held on Sunday morning from 08:15 to 09:30 in Forum Room 1. This forum will also
include a brief update of the Phase 3-D integration activities, along with a
presentation on how to get ready to use the microwave bands via Phase 3-D.

Don't forget the AMSAT dinner scheduled for Friday evening, May 15th, at the Amber
Rose Restaurant in old North Dayton. This is the same venue as last year's dinner, and
cost (including tax and tip), will also be the same as last year. Seating is limited, so
please register (quickly!) with Ed Collins, N8NUY, at edcollins@worldnet.att.net. Ed also asks that
those who have pre-registered to please reconfirm your intent to attend the dinner by
speaking with him at the AMSAT booth before 3 PM on Friday.

This year's Saturday evening Hamvention Banquet will feature internationally known
country singer Ronnie Milsap, WB4KCG, as both the banquet speaker and the evening's main
entertainment. This event will be held at Wright State University's Nutter Center in
Fairborn. At the banquet, AMSAT-NA member Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, will be recognized as the
recipient of the Dayton Amateur Radio Association's Technical Merit Award.

All in all, 1998 is shaping up to be another banner year for AMSAT at Dayton, and the
annual three day event promises to be as exciting as ever. Your AMSAT leaders are looking
forward to seeing many of you there!

ANS is saddened to report that Charles (Chuck) Parmelee, W9ODI, became a silent key on
May 4, 1998. Chuck had serious surgery last December but had made good progress until
about a week ago. Upon hearing the news, AMSAT Vice President Keith Baker, KB1SF, told ANS
"this is indeed a sad day."

W9ODI was a long time supporter of AMSAT and was very active on both the digital and
analog satellites, especially FO-20 and FO-29. Mike, N1JEZ, and Dan, NN0DJ, were
especially sorrowful to hear about Chuck, as both Mike and Dan held regular, 'late night'
QSO's with Chuck.

The funeral was help May 7th in Mundelein, Illinois. W9ODI is survived by his wife
Evelyn and son Dan. They would be happy to receive cards or notes about Chuck at the W9ODI
call book address or via e-mail at dparmelee@midwest.idsonline.com

Charles (Chuck) Parmelee, W9ODI, will be sadly missed by his many amateur radio
friends.

With only a short time before US astronaut Andy Thomas returns to Earth from the
Russian Mir space station, efforts are under way to schedule as many Mir-school contacts
as possible.

In a related story, NASA recently reported the space shuttle Discovery will be five
days late for its Mir docking. U.S. space agency officials decided to delay the launch of
Discovery according to Kennedy Space Center spokesman Joel Wells. "We have a very
tight schedule and it was decided to allow some extra time," he said.

On tap for this month (so far) are Mir amateur radio contacts with schools in New
Hampshire, South Africa, Texas, Tennessee, and possibly, Connecticut. The South African
contact will occur during the Africa Telecom 98 conference, demonstrating how amateur
radio on Mir -- and eventually aboard the International Space Station -- will benefit
education. Attempts also are being made to firm up contact schedules with school groups in
Australia. Thomas holds the special call sign, VK5MIR.

Thomas has been especially active in recent months catching up on the backlog of school
contacts, which were halted after serious technical problems cropped up aboard Mir in
1997. He has also managed a few casual contacts.

TAPR will be active at the Dayton Hamvention with its Digital Forum and PacketBash
scheduled for the convention. The TAPR Digital Forum is on Friday and the PacketBash
banquet will be held on Friday night. Check out the web page http://www.tapr.org/tapr/html/dayton.html
for any last minute changes in the schedule. -TAPR Web Site

Bruce, KK5DO, has added a Real Audio file of the original Sputnik I satellite to
the Houston AMSAT home page, http://www.amsatnet.com.
Bruce says credit is given to Bill, VK3JT, for his efforts many years ago in preserving
this historic moment. -AMSAT-BB

MIREX reports there will be another APRS School test in the very near future. This will
be a 'school' test only, and will happen with very little notice, testing the readiness of
amateur radio operators. In addition, Mir QSL requests (except Europe) should be sent to:
Dr. Dave Larsen, N6CO/K6MIR
PO Box 1501
Pine Grove, CA 95665-WA6LIE

Paul Willmott, VP9MU, AMSAT-BDA, tells ANS he is alive and well and working on the
Station 2 project. Station 2 is a 32-bit version, and is a complete re-write
with lots of new features. Minimum requirements will be a Pentium 100 MHz with
40 MB free drive space, 16 MB RAM (W95/8) or 32 MB RAM (NT4/5) and SVGA
monitor or better. Paul needs volunteers from around the world to help verify, modify, and
organize the location data he has collected for Station 2. Contact Paul at paul.willmott@omsl.bm. -AMSAT-BB

Japan's Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer Institute is pressing ahead with a program
to give Japanese aerospace firms the technologies to launch LEO comsats at U.S. prices by
2005. The program seeks to use USEF's current Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery System as
a springboard to develop 'cheaper-faster-better' satellites. -Japan Space Net

The Big Bang has a little brother, astronomers recently announced. At a NASA news
conference, scientists said they have recorded evidence of the most powerful explosion
since the one they believe produced everything (stars, planets, dirt). The blast, detected
by a satellite on December 14th, occurred so far across the cosmos that its rays took
12 billion years to reach Earth. -Morrock News

Stations are asked to not try digipeating through Mir while other users are connected
to the R0MIR-1 mailbox. Stations may also have noticed that they can't send messages to
other hams via the Mir PBBS. This is because the mailbox is a personal mailbox and is
intended for the use of the crew.

Please do not make 'blind' calls on voice (FM) for Andy Thomas using the
145.985 MHz frequency. Doing so kills the ability for the Mir TNC to decode users on
packet. If Andy or any of the other crewmember are active on FM, they will call CQ and be
happy to chat with anyone who answers.

Paul, K5VAS, reports a voice (FM) contact with Andy Thomas from his mobile recently on
145.985 MHz. Brent Stuart, ZL4TX, made his first digital Mir contact using a 5 watt
VHF handheld and a Baycom TNC.

[ANS thanks Scott Avery, WA6LIE, and the MIREX team for Mir status information]

Stacey Mills, W4SM, reports solar illumination on AO-10 appears to be way down and the
satellite is nearly "comatose." W4SM can hear the beacon (with FMing) and can
hear his downlink as well, but the signals are very, very weak. Things will probably
continue to get worse during May and probably will not be any better by Field Day.
However, the satellite should improve again later in the summer and peak in August.

Scott, VE6ITV, reports working N9NJY and W3JUZ recently on SSB with 5X5 signals and
some fading.

W4SM has more information about the satellite on his AO-10 web page, using the
following URL:

Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, tells ANS that FO-29 was switched into mode JA because of 2
bit errors detected in the digital operation of the on-board-computer. Resetting and
reloading software into the OBC will resume. FO-29 will stay in mode JA until further
notice. An updated status announcement is expected soon.

Currently non-operational. WO-18 is in MBL mode after a software crash. Attempts are
being made to find and correct the cause of the suspected seasonal crashes. Additional
information is not available at this time.